Please help, Current resident, Sallie Mae WONT allow Forbearance or Deferment?!?

[BuddyRes]

Hello fellow studentdoctor members, I am a resident in a surgical field.

I desperately need some help

Unfortunately our loans in medical school were done through Sallie Mae.

I put in all paperwork this year to have my loans put on "Forbearance" because I was told by Sallie Mae they do not allow people to have Deferment anymore.

I was told there is no options for people in medical training/residency/fellowship.

I have been battling with them for a few weeks but when I get home at 9pm, their offices are usually closed.


Can anyone offer any advice? I am now getting a massive bill that is impossible for me to pay as a resident.

The past 3 years I was on "Forbearance" because Sallie Mae told me they do not allow deferment for Medical Residents anymore.

Sallie Mae told me that forbearance is only allowed for 3 years total.

There are no financial people around here that offer assistance.

There has to be a way somehow. However, I know Sallie Mae is notorious for their games so they can try to compound the interest and fees.

I really do not know where to turn but I have been a longtime lurker on these forums.

Any residents or attendings that can offer advise please let me know. If you want to exchange phone numbers if that is easier I can do that.

Thank you everyone.

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[Perrotfish]

Hello fellow studentdoctor members, I am a resident in a surgical field.

I desperately need some help

Unfortunately our loans in medical school were done through Sallie Mae.

I put in all paperwork this year to have my loans put on "Forbearance" because I was told by Sallie Mae they do not allow people to have Deferment anymore.

I was told there is no options for people in medical training/residency/fellowship.

I have been battling with them for a few weeks but when I get home at 9pm, their offices are usually closed.


Can anyone offer any advice? I am now getting a massive bill that is impossible for me to pay as a resident.

The past 3 years I was on "Forbearance" because Sallie Mae told me they do not allow deferment for Medical Residents anymore.

Sallie Mae told me that forbearance is only allowed for 3 years total.

There are no financial people around here that offer assistance.

There has to be a way somehow. However, I know Sallie Mae is notorious for their games so they can try to compound the interest and fees.

I really do not know where to turn but I have been a longtime lurker on these forums.

Any residents or attendings that can offer advise please let me know. If you want to exchange phone numbers if that is easier I can do that.

Thank you everyone.

Are these private loans? Are they eligible for IBR?

 

[Miami_med]

I'm fairly sure that there is no limit to how long you can be on a forbearance. You may require a different distinction of your forbearance (a different category). The other alternative would be to consolidate into an income based repayment. In this case, you can be "in repayment" and have a manageable payment.

 

[Bitsy]

I had a similar issue with a private undergrad loan through Wells Fargo. Apparently, because they are private loans they do not have to follow the rules that public loans do (i.e. allowing residents to forbear loans while in residency). I ended up applying for financial hardship and had to submit a budget of my monthly costs, pay stubs, and was eventually granted a year of forbearance. Now, a year later, I'm battling with them again 🙁 Good luck!

 

[Perrotfish]

If they are private, what is the penalty for default (other than a hit to your credit score)? How much do you lose w/ default vs forbearance?

 

[Doctor D]

Contact the AAMC o help you out.

 

[BuddyRes]

I'm fairly sure that there is no limit to how long you can be on a forbearance. You may require a different distinction of your forbearance (a different category). The other alternative would be to consolidate into an income based repayment. In this case, you can be "in repayment" and have a manageable payment.

I was told by one of their reps that I can only do this for 3 years.

This made no sense to me as well. I do have some private loans from undergrad, but not in the amount they are billing me.


When I had my program director sign my paperwork confirming I am in a residency the same way I did each year, they dragged their feet.

I feel Sallie Mae is trying to do this to make my interest Capitalize
then throw me into forbearance after that so they can make more money off me.

I am trying to call them between surgery cases but obviously that is impossible. Our residency and GME do not have any sort of financial advice with any of this.

Surprisingly, a lot of my co-residents do not have a lot of student loan debt so they are not familiar.


--

I did see some forms that say Educational Deferment and it listed internship and training as an option for this. Have any of you used this? Maybe I am just getting bad representatives on the phone. I got a denial letter in the mail but it did not tell me any particular information about which loan was denied and not.

 

[BuddyRes]

Contact the AAMC o help you out.

What is the Association of American Medical Colleges going to do about loan related issues for a resident?

AAMC is medical colleges and MCATs from my understanding?

 

[edmadison]

Your medical school's financial aid office is where you should look for help.

Ed

 

[Tekar]

Apply for consolidation? then IBR...

It's my plan.. don't know if it'll work...

Also, call them during the work day... find the time... this can become catastrophic if you don't deal with it....

 

[Zagaza]

Try and get another loan company to buy your loans from sallie mae and then do an IBR with them.

 

[RangerBob]

IBR is a federal loan repayment program--it won't work for private loans with Sallie Mae.

If these are federal loans, then consider a few things:
A) Sallie Mae has to grant you manditory residency forbearance if you apply, and you're eligible. Deferment is no longer an option, but indefinite forbearance is. And it's written in your MPN for federal loans, so residency forbearance is still an option (but interest accrues).
B) Consolidate your loans with the federal government. Most private banks are out of the federal loan business and have already sold their federal loans to the Dept of Education, but if your lenders haven't, you might as well bring them over. Consolidating the loans also turns all the money you owe into one direct loan, meaning that you're now eligible for PSLF. That may or may not be around after your 10 years of payments, but why miss out if it is?
C) If you can afford any payments, apply for IBR. The Federal government will pay the interest on subsidized loans if your payments aren't enough to cover them, and there's some kind of benefit regarding interest capitalization. In addition, the payments you make would be rather small now, but count towards loan forgiveness.

If your loans are private loans, then it's really up to Sallie Mae as far as what they'll offer you--usually 3 years forbearance is the limit for what private lenders will grant you for residency. Wells Fargo is granting me 4. But talk with them--tell them you can't afford the payments, and ask them what can they do to help you out. They want their money back, so you can often strike up some kind of deal.

I just deferred payments on one of my federal loans (from undergrad) so I could start payments on all my federal loans at the same time (6 months from now, when grace ends for all but that one). It was a really simple process--I just filled out and then had my program fax over the paperwork to FedLoan (my federal loan servicer).

 

[thesauce]

I don't know what to say except that I'm sorry. Sallie Mae is by far the worst company that I've ever worked with. Their customer service is rude and NEVER helpful. I've been incorrectly billed more times than I can count.

 

[Igor4sugry]

At this point contact the Federal Student Loan Ombudsman; they are pretty good.
submit your compliant online here:
https://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/disputes/prepare/contact-ombudsman

 

[dragonfly99]

This sounds awful...especially for a surgical resident.
I agree with the person who said contact your med school's financial aid person. I hope you didn't go to a school where the administration is going to be not helpful (? foreign school). It sucks that your GME office is not more helpful, also, but your med school should help you because you are still "their" student (or at least were recently).

I agree with if these are federal student loans (not all private) that you should for sure have some better options. Contact the federal gov't (like someone mentioned).

I also agree that you should at least try to contact Sallie Mae during the day time...just tell your senior resident and maybe a friendly type attending that you are having this big problem with your student loans. They will probably take pity on you at least enough for you to be able to make a phone call or two. I know it is hard.

I also think you need to read the fine print on all your loans - if there is some way you can make them/force them to let you have forbearance due to still being in residency, you should do it. And send them things in writing, and keep copies of all correspondence.